Optical waveguide device, and optical modulation device and optical transmission device using it

ABSTRACT

An optical waveguide device includes: a substrate having an electro-optic effect, an optical waveguide formed on the substrate, a light-receiving element disposed on the substrate and monitoring a light wave propagating through the optical waveguide or a light wave that is radiated from the optical waveguide; and a monitoring optical waveguide extending from the optical waveguide to the light-receiving element, in which the monitoring optical waveguide has a U-turn waveguide with respect to an output direction of the optical waveguide, and the light-receiving element is disposed at a part of the monitoring optical waveguide after the U-turn waveguide.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No.2020-062120 filed Mar. 31, 2020, the disclosure of which is hereinincorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an optical waveguide device, and anoptical modulation device and an optical transmission device using theoptical waveguide device, and in particular, to an optical waveguidedevice having a substrate having an electro-optic effect, an opticalwaveguide formed on the substrate, and a light-receiving elementdisposed on the substrate and monitoring a light wave propagatingthrough the optical waveguide or a light wave that is radiated from theoptical waveguide.

Description of Related Art

In the field of optical communication or the field of opticalmeasurement, an optical waveguide device such as an optical modulator,in which an optical waveguide is formed on a substrate having anelectro-optic effect, such as lithium niobate (LN), is often used.Further, in an optical modulator or the like, in order to control a biasin optical modulation by a Mach-Zehnder type optical waveguide,monitoring of output light or a radiated light beam that is output froma Y-junction of the Mach-Zehnder type optical waveguide is performed.

As in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2017-211504, alight-receiving element such as a PD is disposed on a substrate. Asshown in FIG. 1, interference light in a Y-junction of a Mach-Zehndertype optical waveguide 2 formed on a substrate 1 is led out as outputlight to the outside of the substrate 1 by an output waveguide 21.Further, light having complementary light intensity generated withinterference in the Y-junction is used as monitor light by a monitoringoptical waveguide 22 and is guided to the light-receiving element PD.

Disposition of such a light-receiving element is widely used in abipolarized optical modulator in which a plurality of Mach-Zehnder typeoptical waveguides that are used in coherent communication are disposedin parallel, because there is no loss of output light, sufficientmonitor sensitivity can be obtained, and a small-sized optical modulatorcan be realized by disposing a plurality of light-receiving elements ona substrate.

By disposing the light-receiving element on the substrate, it ispossible to reduce the size of the optical waveguide device to someextent. However, in recent years, need for further downsizing has beenincreased. In particular, it is required to further shorten a length Lof the substrate 1 on which the Mach-Zehnder type optical waveguide 2 isformed, as shown in FIG. 1. Therefore, it is necessary to shorten thedistance from the Y-junction of the Mach-Zehnder type optical waveguideto the output end of the optical waveguide, and thus it is difficult tosecure a disposition position of the light-receiving element PD.

Further, as in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2017-187522, areinforcing member is disposed on a part of the substrate. As shown inFIG. 1, reinforcing members 3 are disposed on the upper side of thesubstrate along the sides of the substrate 1 at an input end where inputlight (Lin) enters the optical waveguide and an output end where outputlight (Lout) exits. This is for preventing waveguide chipping whenpolishing the end surface of the input end or the output end of theoptical waveguide, or for securing a bonding area when an opticalcomponent such as an optical fiber or a lens is bonded and fixed to facethe input end or the output end.

An adhesive is used for joining of the light-receiving element PD andthe substrate 1, or joining of the reinforcing member 3 and thesubstrate 1. At the time of the joining of the light-receiving elementor the reinforcing member 3, there is a possibility that the adhesivemay protrude from the light-receiving element or the reinforcing memberand hinder the joining of the other. Therefore, in order to make aconfiguration so as to prevent the adhesives used in the respectivemembers from coming into contact with each other, it is necessary towiden the clearance between the light-receiving element PD and thereinforcing member 3. This makes it even more difficult to shorten thelength L of the substrate 1 in FIG. 1.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to solve the problems as describedabove and provide an optical waveguide device in which it is possible tosufficiently secure a space necessary for disposing alight-receivingelement while shortening a length of a substrate having an electro-opticeffect, and an optical modulation device and an optical transmissiondevice using the optical waveguide device.

In order to solve the above problems, an optical waveguide device, anoptical modulation device, and an optical transmission device accordingto the present invention have the following technical features.

(1) An optical waveguide device includes: a substrate having anelectro-optic effect; an optical waveguide formed on the substrate; alight-receiving element disposed on the substrate and monitoring a lightwave propagating through the optical waveguide or a light wave that isradiated from the optical waveguide; and a monitoring optical waveguidethat extends from the optical waveguide to the light-receiving element,in which the monitoring optical waveguide has a U-turn waveguide withrespect to an output direction of the optical waveguide, and thelight-receiving element is disposed at a part of the monitoring opticalwaveguide after the U-turn waveguide.

(2) In the optical waveguide device according to the above (1), areinforcing member is joined to the substrate on an upper side of thesubstrate and along one side of the substrate at which an output end ofthe optical waveguide is disposed, and the U-turn waveguide is formedbetween the substrate and the reinforcing member.

(3) In the optical waveguide device according to the above (1) or (2),an input end and an output end of the optical waveguide are disposedalong the same side of the substrate.

(4) In the optical waveguide device according to the above (3), thelight-receiving element is disposed outside a range of a spread angle ofa leaked light beam leaking from the input end to the substrate.

(5) In the optical waveguide device according to the above (2), alight-shielding part is formed on a side surface of the reinforcingmember facing the light-receiving element or a side surface of thelight-receiving element facing the reinforcing member.

(6) In the optical waveguide device according to any one of the above(1) to (5), the monitoring optical waveguide is a rib-type opticalwaveguide.

(7) An optical modulation device includes: the optical waveguide deviceaccording to any one of above (1) to (6); a case that houses the opticalwaveguide device; and an optical fiber that inputs a light wave from anoutside of the case to the optical waveguide or outputs the light wavefrom the optical waveguide to the outside of the case.

(8) In the optical modulation device according to the above (7), anelectronic circuit for amplifying a modulation signal that is input tothe optical waveguide device is provided inside the case.

(9) An optical transmission device includes: the optical modulationdevice according to the above (7) or (8); and an electronic circuit thatoutputs a modulation signal that causes the optical modulation device toperform a modulation operation.

According to the present invention, the optical waveguide deviceincludes: a substrate having an electro-optic effect; an opticalwaveguide formed on the substrate; a light-receiving element disposed onthe substrate and monitoring a light wave propagating through theoptical waveguide or a light wave that is radiated from the opticalwaveguide; and a monitoring optical waveguide that extends from theoptical waveguide to the light-receiving element, in which themonitoring optical waveguide has a U-turn waveguide with respect to anoutput direction of the optical waveguide and the light-receivingelement is disposed at a part of the monitoring optical waveguide afterthe U-turn waveguide. Therefore, it is possible to provide an opticalwaveguide device in which it is possible to sufficiently secure a spacenecessary for disposing a light-receiving element while shortening thelength of a substrate having an electro-optic effect, and an opticalmodulation device and an optical transmission device using the opticalwaveguide device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an optical waveguide device of the relatedart.

FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B respectively are a plan view and aside view showinga first example of an optical waveguide device according to the presentinvention, and FIG. 2C and FIG. 2D are sectional views taken along adotted line S of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B respectively are a plan view and a sectional viewshowing a second example of an optical control element according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a third example of the optical controlelement according to the present invention.

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B respectively are a plan view and aside view showinga fourth example of the optical control element according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B respectively are a plan view and aside view showinga fifth example of the optical control element according to the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail withreference to preferred examples.

As shown in FIG. 2A to FIG. 2D, the present invention provides anoptical waveguide device including a substrate 1 having an electro-opticeffect, an optical waveguide 2 formed on the substrate, alight-receiving element (PD) disposed on the substrate and monitoring alight wave propagating through the optical waveguide or a light wavethat is radiated from the optical waveguide, and a monitoring opticalwaveguide 22 extending from the optical waveguide to the light-receivingelement, in which the monitoring optical waveguide has a U-turnwaveguide 23 with respect to an output direction of the opticalwaveguide, and the light-receiving element is disposed at a part (24) ofthe monitoring optical waveguide after the U-turn waveguide. FIG. 2A isa plan view, and FIG. 2B is a side view.

As the substrate 1 having an electro-optic effect, a substrate made oflithium niobate (LN), lithium tantalate (LT), PLZT (lead lanthanumzirconate titanate), or the like, a composite substrate obtained bybonding vapor phase growth films by these materials or these materialsto different types of substrates, or the like can be used.

Further, various materials such as semiconductor materials or organicmaterials can also be used as the optical waveguide.

As a method of forming the optical waveguide, it is possible to use arib-type optical waveguide in which a portion corresponding to anoptical waveguide of a substrate is formed in a protrusion shape byetching the surface of the substrate other than the optical waveguide,forming grooves on both sides of the optical waveguide, or the like.Further, it is also possible to form an optical waveguide by forming ahigh refractive index portion on the surface of a substrate by a thermaldiffusion method, a proton exchange method, or the like of Ti or thelike. It is also possible to form a composite optical waveguide bydiffusing a high refractive index material in a rib-type opticalwaveguide portion, or the like. In particular, since the U-turnwaveguide of the monitoring optical waveguide has a small radius ofcurvature, it is preferable to adopt a rib-type optical waveguidestructure in which light is strongly confined.

The thickness of the substrate on which the optical waveguide is formedis set to 10 μm or lower, more preferably 5 μm or lower, in order toachieve velocity matching between a microwave of a modulation signal anda light wave. Further, the ratio h/t of the height h of the rib-typeoptical waveguide (from a bottom side of each of the grooves on bothsides of the rib-type optical waveguide to a top side of a protrusionportion of the rib-type optical waveguide) and the substrate thickness tof the rib-type optical waveguide portion (from a bottom surface of thesubstrate to the top side of the protrusion portion of the rib-typeoptical waveguide) is set to 0.8 or lower. In particular, in a casewhere the substrate thickness t is 1 μm or lower, it is preferable thatthe ratio h/t is set to a value in the range from 0.6 to 0.8. Further,it is also possible to form a vapor phase growth film on a reinforcingsubstrate and process the film into the shape of the optical waveguideas described above.

The substrate on which the optical waveguide is formed is bonded andfixed to the reinforcing substrate through direct joining or an adhesivelayer such as resin in order to increase mechanical strength. As thereinforcing substrate to be directly joined, a material having arefractive index lower than that of the optical waveguide or thesubstrate on which the optical waveguide is formed and having acoefficient of thermal expansion close to that of the optical waveguideor the like, for example, quartz or the like, is suitably used. Inaddition, it is also possible to use a reinforcing substrate having arefractive index equal to or higher than that of the substrate on whichthe optical waveguide is formed. In that case, a layer having a lowrefractive index is formed between the reinforcing substrate and theoptical waveguide substrate.

Further, when joining the substrate to the reinforcing substrate throughthe adhesive layer, it is also possible to use an LN substrate or thelike as the reinforcing substrate.

In a case where the optical waveguide device is used as an opticalmodulation device, a modulation electrode is formed along a branchedwaveguide of the optical waveguide, particularly the Mach-Zehnder typeoptical waveguide, in order to modulate a light wave propagating throughthe optical waveguide. Further, in order to control a DC bias of theoptical modulation device, it is also possible to dispose a biaselectrode separately from the modulation electrode.

The feature of the optical waveguide device of the present invention isthat, as shown in FIG. 2A to FIG. 2D, the U-turn waveguide 23 isprovided in the middle of the monitoring optical waveguide 22 that isconnected from the optical waveguide 2 to the light-receiving elementPD, so that the length L of the substrate 1 is shortened. Further, theU-turn waveguide 23 is disposed between a reinforcing member 3 disposedalong the end surface of the substrate 1 and the substrate 1, in otherwords, the U-turn waveguide 23 is disposed such that the reinforcingmember 3 and at least a part of the U-turn waveguide 23 overlap, asshown in FIG. 2A when viewed in a plan view. In this way, the length Lof the substrate 1 can be made shorter.

Further, since the U-turn waveguide 23 can be formed at a wide portionincluding the lower side of the reinforcing member 3, it is possible toincrease the radius of curvature so as to suppress a propagation loss oflight due to bending at the U-turn waveguide.

The optical waveguide (U-turn waveguide or input/output waveguide) thatis located on the lower side of the reinforcing member 3 can use astructure (groove) in which a portion other than the rib-type opticalwaveguide is cut off, as shown in FIG. 2C, or a rib-type opticalwaveguide in which grooves each having a certain width are formed onboth sides of the optical waveguide, as shown in FIG. 2D. The width ofthe groove is preferably set to a value in the range of about 1 to 10times the width of the rib-type optical waveguide. FIG. 2C and FIG. 2Dare sectional views taken along a dotted line S in FIG. 2A and show theshape of the optical waveguide formed on the substrate 1.

In this way, the U-turn waveguide or the input/output waveguide cansecure a sufficient bonding area between the reinforcing member 3 andthe substrate 1 while maintaining a function as a rib-type opticalwaveguide having a large effect of confining a light wave. Further,there is also no concern that the reinforcing member 3 may be tiltedwith respect to the joining surface of the substrate 1 at the time ofjoining. Further, in this way, a stable adhesive layer thickness can bemaintained regardless of the cross section or pattern shape of thewaveguide, variation in adhesive strength can be reduced, andsqueezing-out of the adhesive from the reinforcing member can becontrolled.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the distance between the light-receiving element PDand the reinforcing member 3 can also be set longer than the distancebetween a Y-junction of the Mach-Zehnder type waveguide (a Y-junctionwhere a light wave to be detected by the light-receiving element isgenerated) and the reinforcing member 3. In this way, it becomespossible to prevent the adhesives for fixing the reinforcing member 3and the light-receiving element PD to the substrate 1 from coming intocontact with each other, while securing the length of an action portionfor performing optical modulation or the like, which is as long aspossible.

In FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, monitoring optical waveguides (22, 22′) formonitoring a radiated light beam are provided so as to interpose anoutput waveguide 20 of the Mach-Zehnder type optical waveguidetherebetween. FIG. 3A is a plan view, and FIG. 3B is a sectional viewtaken along a dashed-dotted line A-A′ in FIG. 3A.

The two monitoring optical waveguides are provided with U-turnwaveguides (23, 23′) and extend to monitoring optical waveguides (24,24′) that pass under light-receiving elements (PD1, PD2). Further, it isalso possible to configure the light-receiving element (PD1) and thelight-receiving element (PD2) as separate bodies and dispose each of thelight-receiving element (PD1) and the light-receiving element (PD2) oneach of the monitoring optical waveguide (24, 24′). However, it is alsopossible to integrally form the light-receiving element (PD1) and thelight-receiving element (PD2) in a single support member 4. In a casewhere a three-branched structure is used for the Y-j unction of theMach-Zehnder type optical waveguide, by forming single monitor output bycombining the outputs of the two light-receiving elements, it ispossible to reduce the mixing-in of the monitor light to the outputlight, and to reduce a shift of a modulation curve between the monitorlight and the output light while obtaining a high ON/OFF extinctionratio.

In a case of integrating the light-receiving elements (PD1, PD2) withthe support member 4, as shown in FIG. 3B, it is necessary to disposethe support member 4 so as to straddle the branched waveguide of theMach-Zehnder type optical waveguide, and therefore, it is preferable toform a recess portion G in a part of the support member 4. Further, aconfiguration may be made such that a buffer layer is formed on thebranched waveguide, and thus the light wave is not absorbed to thelight-receiving element side.

In order to guide at least apart of the light wave propagating throughthe monitoring optical waveguide to the light-receiving element (PD),the light-receiving element is disposed in close contact with theoptical waveguide, as shown in FIG. 3B, whereby it becomes possible tosuck up an evanescent component from the optical waveguide in adirection of the light-receiving element. Further, it is also possibleto make a configuration such that an incision or the like in an obliquedirection is formed in a part of the optical waveguide, and thus thelight wave is reflected and scattered in the direction of thelight-receiving element.

Further, a configuration may be made such that a reflective surface isformed on the side surface, the upper and lower surfaces, or the insideof the support member 4, and thus the light wave is reflected in thesupport member to improve the light receiving sensitivity of thelight-receiving element. In particular, in a case where a reflectivesurface is formed on the inside of the support member 4, it is possibleto suppress input of the light wave from one of the light-receivingelement (PD1) and the light-receiving element (PD2) to the other, andtherefore, it is possible to receive more stable monitor light.

Further, in order to stabilize the light receiving amount orcharacteristics of the monitor light and to improve the reliability offixing of the light-receiving element, a pedestal structure may beseparately provided on the lower surface of the light-receiving element(PD).

FIG. 4 shows an example in which the light wave that is monitored by thelight-receiving element PD is a part of the output light from theY-junction. A configuration is made such that an optical coupler (dottedline portion C) is disposed at a part of the output waveguide 20 and apart of the output light is led to the monitoring optical waveguide. Asthe optical coupler C, various configurations such as a directionalcoupler, an MMI coupler, or a cross coupler can be adopted.

In FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, the input end and the output end of the opticalwaveguide are disposed along the same side (the right side in thedrawings) of the substrate 1. Further, a configuration is made such thatan input light wave (Lin) is branched into two light waves, which arethen modulated by the respective nested optical waveguides, and the twomodulated lights are polarization-combined and output as one outputlight (Lout). Further, an electrical signal (Sin) that is used foroptical modulation is input from a side on the side opposite to the sideof the substrate 1 to and from which the light wave is input and output.FIG. 5B is a side view with respect to a plan view of FIG. 5A.

A lens 51 that is provided on the input side of the light wave or lenses(52, 53) that are provided on the output side are integrally held by anoptical block 5 and joined to the side surfaces of the substrate 1 andthe reinforcing member 3. Further, if necessary, it is also possible toprovide an optical block that integrally holds optical components suchas a wave plate 54 and polarization combining members (55, 56). Further,it is also possible to directly join the end surface of an optical fiberinserted and fixed to a member such as a capillary to the side surfacesof the substrate 1 and the reinforcing member 3 together with thecapillary.

As an electrode that is disposed on the substrate 1, a modulationelectrode (a portion indicated by a thick dotted line in the drawing, inwhich only a signal electrode is shown and a ground electrode isomitted) to which the electrical signal Sin is input, a bias electrode(B2) for controlling a bias of a main Mach-Zehnder type opticalwaveguide of the nested optical waveguide, or a bias electrode (B1) forcontrolling a bias of a sub-Mach-Zehnder type optical waveguide isprovided.

A dotted line LS drawn on the input side of the optical waveguide 2indicates a leaked light beam of the light wave input from the endsurface of the substrate 1, and a spread angle (divergence angle θ) ofthe leaked light beam is calculated by θ=Δ/πw0 from a beam radius w0 anda wavelength A at an optical coupling part. The light-receiving elementis disposed outside the range of the spread angle of the leaked lightbeam, whereby it becomes possible to restrain non-coupled light at aninput coupling part from being input to the light-receiving element tobecome noise of the light-receiving element.

In FIG. 5A, the shape of a termination of the monitoring opticalwaveguide is bent so as to face the side surface side of the substrate 1(the upper and lower sides of the substrate 1 in the drawing). This isfor preventing a light wave (unnecessary light) that is emitted from thetermination of the monitoring optical waveguide from being input to theoptical waveguide 2 again. It is also possible to absorb the light waveby an electrode formed on the surface of the substrate 1. However, it isalso possible to emit the light wave from the side surface of thesubstrate 1 to the outside.

In FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B, similar to FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, thelight-receiving element PD is disposed so as to avoid the leaked lightbeam LS from the input end of the optical waveguide. Further, alight-shielding part is formed on the side surface of thelight-receiving element PD or the reinforcing member 3, so that it ispossible to restrain unnecessary light from being input to thelight-receiving element, or the unnecessary light from being reflectedon the side surface of the reinforcing member to be input to the opticalwaveguide 2 or the light-receiving element PD.

An optical modulation device can be configured by housing the opticalwaveguide device as described above in a case and providing opticalfibers for inputting a light wave from the outside of the case to anoptical waveguide of the optical waveguide device and outputting thelight wave from the optical waveguide to the outside of the case.Further, it is also possible to incorporate an electronic circuit suchas a driver IC for driving a modulator in the case. In particular, inthe case of a waveguide having a U-turn waveguide configuration as shownin FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, or FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B, a modulation devicehaving excellent high-frequency characteristics can be realized bylinearly disposing an interface for a high-frequency signal, a driverIC, and a modulation element.

Further, by providing the optical modulation device with an electroniccircuit such as a digital signal processing processor or a driver IC forgenerating an electrical signal to be input to a modulation electrodeformed on a substrate of the optical waveguide device, a laser lightsource, a control circuit, or the like, it becomes possible to configurean optical transmission device. This electronic circuit may be disposedin the same case as the optical waveguide device, or may be disposedoutside the case.

As described above, according to the present invention, it becomespossible to provide an optical waveguide device in which it is possibleto sufficiently secure a space necessary for disposing a light-receivingelement while shortening the length of a substrate having anelectro-optic effect, and an optical modulation device and an opticaltransmission device using the optical waveguide device.

What is claimed is:
 1. An optical waveguide device comprising: asubstrate having an electro-optic effect; an optical waveguide formed onthe substrate; a light-receiving element disposed on the substrate andmonitoring a light wave propagating through the optical waveguide or alight wave that is radiated from the optical waveguide; and a monitoringoptical waveguide that extends from the optical waveguide to thelight-receiving element, wherein the monitoring optical waveguide has aU-turn waveguide with respect to an output direction of the opticalwaveguide, and the light-receiving element is disposed at a part of themonitoring optical waveguide after the U-turn waveguide.
 2. The opticalwaveguide device according to claim 1, wherein a reinforcing member isjoined to the substrate on an upper side of the substrate and along oneside of the substrate at which an output end of the optical waveguide isdisposed, and the U-turn waveguide is formed between the substrate andthe reinforcing member.
 3. The optical waveguide device according toclaim 1, wherein an input end and an output end of the optical waveguideare disposed along the same side of the substrate.
 4. The opticalwaveguide device according to claim 3, wherein the light-receivingelement is disposed outside a range of a spread angle of a leaked lightbeam leaking from the input end to the substrate.
 5. The opticalwaveguide device according to claim 2, wherein a light-shielding part isformed on a side surface of the reinforcing member facing thelight-receiving element or on a side surface of the light-receivingelement facing the reinforcing member.
 6. The optical waveguide deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the monitoring optical waveguide is arib-type optical waveguide.
 7. An optical modulation device comprising:the optical waveguide device according to claim 1; a case that housesthe optical waveguide device; and an optical fiber that inputs a lightwave from an outside of the case to the optical waveguide or outputs thelight wave from the optical waveguide to the outside of the case.
 8. Theoptical modulation device according to claim 7, wherein an electroniccircuit for amplifying a modulation signal that is input to the opticalwaveguide device is provided inside the case.
 9. An optical transmissiondevice comprising: the optical modulation device according to claim 7;and an electronic circuit that outputs a modulation signal that causesthe optical modulation device to perform a modulation operation.